TY - JOUR
T1 - UV and simulated solar photodegradation of 17α-ethynylestradiol in secondary-treated wastewater by hydrogen peroxide or iron addition
AU - Frontistis, Zacharias
AU - Kouramanos, Matheos
AU - Moraitis, Spyridon
AU - Chatzisymeon, Efthalia
AU - Hapeshi, Evroula
AU - Fatta-Kassinos, Despo
AU - Xekoukoulotakis, Nikolaos P.
AU - Mantzavinos, Dionissios
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/9/1
Y1 - 2015/9/1
N2 - The extensive use of estrogens and their release, through various pathways, into the environment, constitutes an emerging environmental problem that poses serious threats onto public health. In this work the efficiency of UVC/H2O2 and solar/Fe2+ treatment to degrade 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2) in environmentally relevant concentrations of 100 μg/L in secondary-treated wastewater matrices was investigated. Also, photolytic treatment was performed under different irradiation sources, namely UVC, UVA and simulated solar light. The effect of H2O2 (0-20 mg/L) and Fe2+ (0-15 mg/L) concentration was investigated and, at optimal operating parameters, EE2 removal was 100% after 15 min of UVC/H2O2 treatment, while EE2 removal reached 86% after 60 min of solar/Fe2+ treatment. In addition, the effect of water matrix and pH was studied. Total organic carbon (TOC) and yeast estrogen screening (YES) measurements showed the formation of stable intermediate products during EE2 treatment and an attempt to elucidate the reaction pathways and mechanisms through the identification of transformation products (TPs) by means of UPLC-MS/MS was made. Several TPs, including quinone methide and 1,2-quinone derivatives, were identified and competing pathways were suggested, in which hydroxylation, alkylation, dealkylation, demethylation and dehydroxylation, amongst others were described as major transformation mechanisms.
AB - The extensive use of estrogens and their release, through various pathways, into the environment, constitutes an emerging environmental problem that poses serious threats onto public health. In this work the efficiency of UVC/H2O2 and solar/Fe2+ treatment to degrade 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2) in environmentally relevant concentrations of 100 μg/L in secondary-treated wastewater matrices was investigated. Also, photolytic treatment was performed under different irradiation sources, namely UVC, UVA and simulated solar light. The effect of H2O2 (0-20 mg/L) and Fe2+ (0-15 mg/L) concentration was investigated and, at optimal operating parameters, EE2 removal was 100% after 15 min of UVC/H2O2 treatment, while EE2 removal reached 86% after 60 min of solar/Fe2+ treatment. In addition, the effect of water matrix and pH was studied. Total organic carbon (TOC) and yeast estrogen screening (YES) measurements showed the formation of stable intermediate products during EE2 treatment and an attempt to elucidate the reaction pathways and mechanisms through the identification of transformation products (TPs) by means of UPLC-MS/MS was made. Several TPs, including quinone methide and 1,2-quinone derivatives, were identified and competing pathways were suggested, in which hydroxylation, alkylation, dealkylation, demethylation and dehydroxylation, amongst others were described as major transformation mechanisms.
KW - Estrogen
KW - Pathways
KW - Solar
KW - Transformation products
KW - UVC
KW - Wastewater
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84930041667
U2 - 10.1016/j.cattod.2014.10.012
DO - 10.1016/j.cattod.2014.10.012
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84930041667
SN - 0920-5861
VL - 252
SP - 84
EP - 92
JO - Catalysis Today
JF - Catalysis Today
ER -
